He said: I said to Abu `Abdillah عليه السلام: Allah is too Majestic and Gracious to be known through His creation; rather, creation is known through Allah. He said: You have spoken the truth. I said: For one who knows that he has a Lord must know that this Lord has [things that incur His] satisfaction and [things that incur His] discontent, and he does not know what satisfies Him and what discontents Him except by revelation (wahi) or a messenger. So, one who does not receive revelation must seek the messengers, and if he found them, he will know that they are hujaj and that obedience to them is obligatory. And I said to the people: Do you know that the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله was the hujja from Allah over His creation? They said: Yea. I said: So after the passing of the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله, who was the hujja over His creation? So they said: The Qur’an. So I considered the Qur’an, which is used in debates by the Murji’a, the Qadriyya, and the atheist (zindeeq) – who does not believe it, but uses it in his debates to defeat the [Muslim] men. So I came to know that the Qur’an cannot be a hujja without a Guardian; whatever he says regarding it would be true. So I said to them: Who is the Guardian of the Qur’an? So they said: ibn Mas`ud, for he was learned, `Umar was learned, and Hudhayfa learned. I said: [Learned in] all of it? They said: No. I did not see anyone who said “he knew all of it” except with regards to `Ali عليه السلام. And if something (i.e. an issue) emerged within the community, one would say, “I do not know”, and another would say “I do not know”, and another would say “I do not know”, and another (i.e. Amir al-Mu’mineen) would say: “I know” – so I bear witness that `Ali عليه السلام was the Guardian of the Qur’an, and that obedience to him is obligatory and that he is the hujja upon the people after the Messenger of Allah صلى الله عليه وآله and whatever he said regarding the Qur’an is true. He (i.e. the Imam) said: May Allah have mercy on you. (al-Kafi, Volume 1, hadith 426)

Several of our companions from Ahmad b. Muhammad b. `Isa from `Ali b. al-Hakam from Aban. He said:

al-Ahwal informed me that Zayd b. `Ali b. al-Husayn عليهما السلام came to him while he was in hiding. He said: So I met him, and he said to me: O Abu Ja`far, what would you say to someone from us who comes to you asking to join us, would you rise with him? He said: So I said to him: If he were your father or brother, I would rise with him. He said: So he said to me: I intend to rise and fight these people, so rise with me. He said: I said to him: No, I will not, may I be your ransom. He said: So he said to me: Are you distancing yourself from me? He said: I said to him: It is of one essence – for if there were for Allah a hujja on the Earth, then those separating from you would be successful and those rising with you would be destroyed; and if there were no hujja for Allah on the Earth, then those separating from you and those rising with you would be in the same state. He said: So he said to me: O Abu Ja`far, I used to sit with my father at the table and he would feed me the chunky morsels and cool for me the hot ones until they cooled - `Ali (i.e. Zayn al-`Abideen) showed compassion, and yet [you mean to say] he would not show me compassion from the heat of the Fire? So he has informed you of the religion and did not inform me of it? So I said to him: May I be your ransom, he showed compassion to you from the heat of the Fire without informing you, for he feared for you – he did not present it [to you] lest you enter the Fire. So he informed me: If I accept, then I am saved; and if I do not accept, then it does not matter whether I enter the Fire. Then I said to him: May I be your ransom, are you superior to the prophets? He said: Nay, the prophets. I said: Ya`qub said to Yusuf: O my son, do not disclose your vision to your brothers lest they plot against you. Why did he not inform the brothers so that they would not plot against Yusuf? He hid it from them and so your father has done the same in fear for you. He said: So he said: When you say that, I swear by Allah [I recall] that your companion (i.e. the Imam) informed me in Medina that I will be killed and crucified in Kunas, and that he possesses a scroll that mentions my killing and crucifixion.

I then went to Hajj and narrated the conversation with Zayd to Abu `Abdillah عليه السلام, so he said to me: It seems that you took to him from between his hands and from behind him, and from his right and from his top, and from above his head and from beneath his feet, and did not leave for him any way out. (al-Kafi, Volume 1, hadith 429)